Wednesday, October 31, 2012

More than 20,000 attend daylong festival at L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine that featured 7,658 illuminated jack-o-lanterns

Casco, Maine - The 10th annual Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival at L.L. Bean raised $80,175 for the one-of-a-kind national retreat in Casco that supports children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, Camp Sunshine officials announced Wednesday.

More than 20,000 festival-goers attended the daylong event on Oct. 27 in Freeport, Maine that was capped by the spectacular display of 7,658 illuminated jack-o-lanterns glowing in the night sky. Last year’s Camp Sunshine (www.campsunshine.org) festival featured 5,200 lit jack-o-lanterns.

Augusta, Maine - Commissioner Stephen Bowen issued the following statement Wednesday in response to the submission of five proposals to the Maine Charter School Commission to open charter schools in the fall of 2014.

“Public charter schools are an important part of the growing menu of public school choices for Maine students. Maine is on a clear path to providing more options to more students.

This is not an indictment of the schools we currently have. It reflects a growing understanding among Mainers that no one school can be all things to all students. And that it is our responsibility to help families find the right educational environment for their children. As Gov. LePage has said, the wealthy have always had choices; it is our responsibility to ensure that choosing the best choice is not solely the privilege of the privileged.”

For more information, visit the Maine Department of Education website: www.maine.gov/doe

Augusta, Maine -Five groups submitted proposals to open public charter schools in Maine by Wednesday’s deadline. They are the second round of proposals to the Maine Charter School Commission.“We are very pleased to receive new applications which will provide future public school choices for students,” said Jana Lapoint, Commission chair. “This is exactly what public charter schools were supposed to do – give all students – not just those that can afford expensive private schools – additional choices. Our role is to review these proposals carefully to ensure they are viable and quality options for students.”The five proposals were received from: Harpswell Coastal Academy, Harpswell; Heartwood Charter School, Kennebunk; Maine Connections Academy; Maine Virtual Academy; and Queen City Academy Charter School, Bangor. The applications will be posted online in about a week on theCommission website(www.maine.gov/csc).Three groups that had earlier indicated they planned to submit did not do so by the deadline.

Rockland, Maine - On Sunday, November 18 at 2:00 pm Local Mystery Author Susan Connelly will Read from her newest book. Connelly will discuss her Nell Prentice series and read from The Flight of Time, fourth in the series of mysteries featuring Boston private investigator and classicist Nell Prentice. Refreshments will be served.

Special accommodations for persons with disabilities can be made with 48 hours notice. Please call the Library at 594-0310.

This is one in a continuing Thursday series of literary, film and cultural offerings sponsored by the Rockland Public Library & The Friends of the Rockland Public Library. Admission is free.

Views expressed in public programs at the library do not necessarily reflect the views of the Rockland Public Library or its staff.

Modern Family fans will be able to watch an all new episode tonight at 9pm on ABC entitled "Yard Sale". In this new episode; Jay and Gloria hold a yard sale to help Manny and Luke with their school's charity fundraiser, and the entire family pitches in: Phil feels pressured to both sell and buy something, Mitch and Cam help Claire assess Alex's new 'boy friend,' and Manny finds an old trunk that hides a secret Gloria wants to see remain a secret, on "Modern Family,"

Augusta, Maine - Governor Paul R. LePage announced today that he has authorized the deployment of the Maine Forest Ranger Incident Management Team (MEIMT) to New York City to assist in disaster recovery following Hurricane Sandy.

"Maine was fortunate in being spared the worst effects of Hurricane Sandy," said Governor LePage. "We feel privileged that we can send this skilled and experienced team to assist in New York’s recovery."

The request for assistance came through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a mutual aid agreement which facilitates member states sending personnel and equipment to help disaster relief efforts in other states.

Ellsworth, Maine - It’s the holiday season and The Grand has tickets now on sale for a heartwarming tale of one family's adventures in the big city during the most wonderful time of the year entitled “Home for the Holidays: A Christmas Wish” running on Fri. Dec. 14th, Sat., Dec. 15th at 7:30pm and Sun. Dec. 16th at 2pm.

Tickets are as follows- $18 Adults, $15 Seniors/Members, $10 Youth (12 & under) Please note, The Grand is collecting non-perishable food donations for the Loaves & Fishes food pantry in Ellsworth. If you bring in a food donation,you receive $1.00 off admission for “Home for the Holidays: A Christmas Wish”. (Discount honored on tickets purchased in person at the box office).

Augusta, Maine - Secretary of State Charlie Summers and AAA Northern New England have worked together to host the Senior Driving Summit on Friday November 2nd at the Augusta Amory. The workshop will be held from 8:30am-3:00pm with expert National speakers covering an array of topics as they relate to the challenge of older driver safety and mobility.

The summit is an opportunity for healthcare professionals, legislators, law enforcement and other traffic safety professionals to convene and discuss the challenges of senior driving safety and mobility. Expert speakers from around the nation will lead interactive sessions on a number of key topics including the extent and impact of senior driver safety, current research and recommended best practices. After hearing from some of the Nation's leading experts on senior driving safety and mobility, local experts will have the opportunity to weigh in and comment a panel discussion. The Maine Auto Dealers Association will be bringing in vehicles as well as sponsoring lunch for attendees, other sponsors include the Maine Transportation Safety Coalition and Maine Bureau of Highway Safety.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard continues its search Wednesday for the missing captain of the HMS Bounty approximately 145 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C.

Missing is Robin Walbridge, 63.

The Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin, a 378-foot high-endurance cutter homeported in Charleston, S.C., arrived on scene at approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday and began searching for Walbridge. The crew aboard the HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., secured their searches for the night at approximately 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Elm, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., searched through the night and is en route to North Carolina.

A crew aboard an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, Fla., conducted a four-hour search Wednesday morning, a Hercules aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., began a search at approximately 7:30 a.m. and a Hercules aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City will conduct a search after the Clearwater Hercules crew completes their search.

"As of now, our intent is to continue searching for the missing person," said Capt. Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District. "This is still an active search, not a recovery effort. Factors such as fitness of the member, weather conditions, survival equipment and the results from previous searches are taken into consideration to determine how long the Coast Guard will search."

The Coast Guard is searching an area approximately 1,500 square nautical miles.

The water temperature is 77 degrees, air temperature is 64 degrees, seas are 12 feet, and the winds are 30 mph.

Bath, Maine - Sagadahoc Preservation's Dreamland Theater will screen The Avengers on November 8th at 7pm at the Winter Street Center, in Bath. Already a classic, the 2012 movie features the agency as a who's who of Marvel Super Heroes, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When global security is threatened by Loki and his cohorts, Nick Fury and his team will need all their powers to save the world from disaster. This week's movie is sponsored by Bath Savings Institution.

Augusta, Maine - Maine’s adoption community at a tea, taking place at the Blaine House on Thursday, November 1, at 2:00 p.m., will honor First Lady Ann M. LePage. The Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine Inc. and the Adoption Awareness Committee which collaborates to co-host this tea each year will host the event.

This year, in addition to honoring several families who have adopted from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, privately and internationally, the Committee will also honor Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage. The groups cite the time and caring she has provided to the adoptive families in Maine during her tenure as First Lady.

“I am humbled to be honored by these adoption organizations. Adoption provides a wonderful tool for providing children with loving Maine homes, and it has been a wonderful experience to see the positive impacts both of these groups have on strengthening Maine’s families,” said the First Lady.

The First Lady has co-hosted the tea at the Blaine House for the past two years.

The following referenda questions will appear on the Maine ballot, in this order:

Question 1: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples?

An Act To Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-sex Couples and Protect Religious Freedom

Question 2: Bond Issue
Do you favor an $11,300,000 bond issue to provide funds for capital to build a diagnostic facility for the University of Maine System; for capital improvements and equipment, including machine tool technology, for the Maine Community College System; and for capital improvements and equipment at the Maine Maritime Academy?

An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue for Higher Education

Question 3: Bond Issue
Do you favor a $5,000,000 bond issue to purchase land and conservation easements statewide from willing sellers for public land and water access, conservation, wildlife or fish habitat and outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing and deer wintering areas, and to preserve working farmland and working waterfronts to be matched by at least $5,000,000 in private and public contributions?

An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Support Maine's Natural Resource-based Economy

Question 4: Bond Issue
Do you favor a $51,500,000 bond issue for improvements to highways and bridges, local roads, airports and port facilities, as well as for funds for rail access, transit buses and the LifeFlight Foundation, which will make the State eligible for at least $105,600,000 in federal and other matching funds?

An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Invest in Transportation Infrastructure To Meet the Needs of the Business Sector and To Create Jobs

Question 5: Bond Issue
Do you favor a $7,925,000 bond issue to be expended over 2 years for revolving loan funds for drinking water systems and for wastewater treatment facilities, which will make the State eligible to secure $39,625,000 in federal grants?

An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue for Wastewater and Drinking Water Revolving Loan Funds

Penobscot Marine Museum will open its winter exhibition season on December 15thwith Keeping Warm. This exhibit showcases Penobscot Marine Museum’s collection of beautiful 19th century quilts, and include 19th and early 20th century winter clothing, fiber art tools and crafts, toys, sports equipment, and historic photos Maine in winter. It explores how Mainers worked and played in the harsher winters of our past.

This exhibit is co-curated by members of the Friendship Sampler Quilters chapter of the Pine Tree Quilters, and includes quilts by their members. There will be a resident quilter from the group working on her own quilt during the exhibit, plus there will be an opportunity for adults and children to learn a bit of quilting and work on a quilt in progress. Those who work on the quilt may put their names into a raffle for the finished quilt.

Join the Museum for an opening party!

Saturday, December 15th from 11 am to 4 pm.

We will have ice boats on display on the Museum crescent. In the Museum Gallery and Store, cookbook author Sandra Oliver will be talking about her new book Maine Home Cooking: 175 Recipes From Down East Kitchens and children’s book author and knitting author Robin Hansen will be signing her children’s book Ice Harbor Mittens.

Keeping Warm is in the Museum Gallery on Route One, 40 E. Main St., Searsport. It is open Saturday, December 15, and every Saturday and Sunday through February 24th.It will also be open Thursday and Friday December 27 and 28, and February 21 and 22. Hours: 11 am to 4 pm. For more information call 207-548-2529 or 207-548-0334.

Make a Gingerbread House with a nautical theme, and bring it to the Penobscot Marine Museum’s Main Street Gallery on November 30th for a holiday kick-off party! Or simply come to the Museum’s Maine Street Gallery for the party and to admire the display of Gingerbread Lighthouses. There will be Gingerbread Lighthouses, boat barns and more, made by individuals (such as you!) as well as by local restaurants. The Chocolate Drop Shoppe from Belfast will be on hand with holiday candies.

The Gingerbread Lighthouses will be on display one day only, in the Museum’s Main Street Gallery and Store.

The Chocolate Drop Shoppe from Belfast has a Gingerbread House competition. If you'd like to access their patterns and join their competition, there will be a new category for nautical entries! Their $5 fee goes to the Belfast Rotary 100 Fund, which provides holiday gifts for struggling families in Waldo County.

Or you can bring your Gingerbread Lighthouse to The Inn at French's Point for the Stockton Springs Holiday Gala on Sunday, December 2nd.

Also on November 30th is the Searsport Holiday Tree Lighting on the Crescent and their annual holiday concert. Call the Searsport Town Office at 548-6372 for more information.

BRUNSWICK, Maine – It is always nice to have a big sister or brother. This is perhaps how the relationship between Mid Coast Health Services and the Oasis Health Network could best be described, due in no small part to current MidCoast President and CEO Lois Skillings, one of the initial cadre of healthcare professionals who were part of Oasis at its inception in 1992. As an ER nurse, Lois volunteered and assisted Oasis founder Dr. Peter McGuire when he first began the Tuesday evening medical clinic at the Tedford Shelter. Lois describes the ongoing Mid Coast/Oasis partnership as “symbiotic and mutually supportive.”

Recognizing the value of the Oasis HealthNetwork and its evolving role in providing an alternative to those seeking medical assistance in the area hospital emergency rooms, in 1995 Mid Coast Hospital offered to host the clinic in one of its facilities and it continues to do so today. In 2004, Oasis moved to its current location in the Mid Coast Hospital Professional Building at 66 Baribeau Drive in Brunswick.

Mid Coast Health Services affiliate organizations have always supported Oasis as a part of the $8.5 million in free and uncompensated medical services that they provide to the community each year. Free lab services and other diagnostic testing provided to Oasis patients are good examples of the health services support that Mid Coast provides.

Based on community need, and at the suggestion of the Mid Coast Medical Executive Committee, Skillings convened and chaired a committee that recommended development of the Community Prescription Assistance Program (CPAP). Launched in 2005, the CPAP is supported by both Mid Coast and Parkview Hospitals, including funding through the medical staff at Mid Coast Hospital, and administered by Oasis. This program offers free prescriptions for those who qualify and cannot afford their needed medications. The major drug companies make donations of these needed prescriptions. In the first year of the program prescriptions valued at over $280,000 were distributed to qualified recipients. In 2011 that total had grown to over $1.2million, making it a significant part of services provided by Oasis.

The recent reduction in those eligible for MaineCare has already had an impact, bringing new patients to Oasis every month seeking health services. Although the Affordable Care Act is a step in the right direction for widening insurancecoverage, there still remain nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance. As Lois Skillings points out, more efforts must be made to reduce waste and trim costs. Under her leadership Mid Coast Hospital has been recognized as the highest rated, lowest cost hospital in Maine, managing costs 35 percent below the state average. The United States, however, spends significantly more per person for healthcare costs and yet our health outcomes are not that favorable compared to other countries that spend much less.

The increasing number of those seeking healthcare assistance is burdensome for all healthcare providers. This stress on existing capabilities has made it more difficult to redirect assets to other needed areas such as child and preventive healthcare. Preventive care programs are lacking throughout the US due to the cost of active, acute andspecialty care.

Oasis Healthcare Network will soon be kicking off their 2013 funding drive. With continued generous support provided by individual donations and charitable trust contributions, Oasis and their Mid Coast Hospital partner will be able to continue, despite the challenges, to meet the healthcare needs of the uninsured and underinsured in our community.

Coast Guard search area for HMS Bounty captain.

The Coast Guard's search area for the HMS Bounty is shown, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Coast Guard cutters and aircraft are searching approximately 1,350 square nautical miles for the missing captain of the vessel. U.S. Coast Guard photo

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

There is a 13 year old talented young Lady that caught our attention from Fisher, Indiana. This talented Singer/Songwriter is Maria Diebolt who is a great Singer/Songwriter whose style of singing is Pop.

Thirteen year old singer/songwriter sensation Maria Diebolt (Dee-bolt) is already taking the world by storm with her insightful lyrics and a vocal maturity beyond her years! She has been singing publicly for about five years and has already garnered local, national, and international acclaim for her talents. Currently, Maria can be heard at local venues singing her own sets with Indy’s top band Zanna-Doo! She also has a keen interest in songwriting and recently recorded three original songs, including the heartfelt “Stay Strong” which was written for a classmate who was diagnosed with lymphoma. Maria’s other originals showcase the scope of her songwriting skills. “All I Know” is a pop/rock song in the style of Kelly Clarkson or Demi Lovato and the upbeat pop song “ I'll Be Here For You” is a catchy tune which appeals to an audience of all ages. She just recorded a soulful version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” which is available on iTunes along with her first three originals. Maria also has a full repertoire of cover songs in her catalog.

In honor and in memory of the sailing crew of the HMS Bounty, the Lynx Educational Foundation and Privateer Lynx has established a crew assistance fund starting with $500.00 in hopes that the effort will help in a small way of the immediate relocation needs of our friends of the HMS Bounty. Please join us and contribute what you can to help these brave individuals.

Public Art Committee to lead a brief discussion on historic fountain and square during November’s First Friday Art Walk

Portland, Maine – This Friday as a part of First Friday Art Walk, the Portland Public Art Committee (PPAC) will hold its seventh talk in the Art in Our Front Yard: Portland’s Public Art Collection series with a discussion of the Boothby Square and Fountain located on Fore Street (photo attached). PPAC member Jere DeWaters will lead a discussion of the square and artwork, its history and significance within the city’s collection. The public is encouraged to join the PPAC Friday November 2nd and learn about the art in their front yard and share in a discussion of the unique place public art holds in our community.

Augusta, Maine - The Bureau of Unemployment Compensation (BUC) of the Maine Department of Labor learned this month that it has been awarded a $10 million dollar grant to participate in a new three-state consortium effort to replace the unemployment information system with a cloud-based infrastructure. Additional grants totaling approximately $1.5 million dollars will be used to improve the operations of the unemployment insurance program in Maine, including the prevention of unemployment insurance fraud.

The Department of Labor has joined a federally funded consortium comprised of Maine, Mississippi and Rhode Island to develop a new information technology system for the Unemployment Insurance program. This effort will use proven technology to create a cloud-based system that states can modify to meet their statutory needs. The consortium has received $90 million in federal funding, $10 million of which will be apportioned to Maine to cover the majority of its state-related costs.

Portland, Maine - The Portland Sea Dogs, Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, have announced that the organization will be opening a kiosk located at the Maine Mall on Thursday, November 1st. The Sea Dogs mall location will offer both tickets and souvenirs and will operate during the months of November and December.

The Sea Dogs' Maine Mall kiosk will offer a variety of Sea Dogs merchandise including hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and novelties. The kiosk will also be a full service Sea Dogs' ticket outlet where Box, Reserved, and General Admission seating tickets will be available for all 2013 Sea Dogs' home games. Tickets will be available at the Maine Mall location starting on Saturday, November 3rd at 12:00 Noon.

The crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Elm, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., arrived on scene at approximately 7:15 p.m. Monday and began searching for Walbridge. The crews aboard the HC-130 Hercules aircraft and the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., secured their searches for the night at approximately 7:30 p.m. Monday.

A crew aboard an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., began a four-hour search at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, and a Hercules aircrew from Air Station Clearwater began a morning search at approximately 7:15 a.m.

Wiscasset, Maine - Wiscasset High School Drama students have been working very hard on their southern accents and the latest in 1980's hairstyles – all in preparation for the upcoming performances of Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias directed by Jean Phillips. Two different sets of ladies will perform this comically tragic play on Friday, November 16, Saturday, November 11 & 17 at 7:00 PM and Sunday, November 12 at 2:00 PM.

The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, is shown submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Of the 16-person crew, the Coast Guard rescued 14, recovered a woman and is searching for the captain of the vessel. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski.

Monday, October 29, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: Due to Sandy, Amtrak Downeaster has cancelled all trains for tomorrow. The Amtrak Downeaster runs from Boston (North Station) to Portland until November 1st, 2012. On November 1st, 2012, Amtrak Downeaster will run from Boston, Massachusetts (North Station) to Brunswick, Maine.